


A Secret Mission

by Orime



Series: Lumariae [2]
Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-09-12 23:05:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16880961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orime/pseuds/Orime
Summary: Something seems to have upset Almas, and Lumariae just wants him to feel better.





	A Secret Mission

As she had done many times before, Lumariae bounced down the path to see what fun she would have with Almas that day. She hummed a little tune to herself, only briefly stopping to pat her favourite stones.

When she got to his workshop, she was surprised to find him sitting motionless on the floor beside his workbench. He looked up at her when she entered the room, and she couldn't understand the expression on his face but she knew that it frightened her.

Hesitating for a moment, she slowly continued towards him and sat down on the floor beside him. He still didn't move or speak, which frightened her more. Unsure of what to do, but certain that she should do something, she reached over and patted his arm softly.

That was when he started to cry.

It shocked her so much that she started to cry too, and so she climbed onto his lap, clutching at his shirt and sobbing into his chest. His arms folded around her and began to squeeze her tightly and they both just sat there, crying. Eventually they ran out of tears and sat hugging in silence. She began to feel calmer as time passed, but she didn't want to move or speak in case she made him cry again.

Finally he broke the silence with a hoarse voice. "I am sorry. Would you like me to get you a drink?"

She nodded against his chest, and he slowly stood up, still cradling her to him. He walked across the room and gently placed her on a stool before moving to another room to fetch the drink. She didn't really want one, but she wanted him to be happy again.

When he returned his eyes were puffy, but dry. And while he still looked... not quite right... he gave her a small smile.

She smiled back and accepted the sweetened water he'd brought, taking a few mouthfuls to please him before holding the cup against her lap. He sat down on the stool opposite her.

"I'm sorry," he said again. "Today has been... difficult."

She watched him silently.

He sighed, and then gave her another, slightly wider smile. "I'm really glad that you came today."

"You are?"

He nodded, the smile returning fully. "You helped me to feel better."

A wave of relief washed away the last of her fear.

"Why were you sad?"

The strange expression resurfaced briefly, but he closed his eyes for a moment, and it was gone.

"I heard something very important today," he said slowly. "I wonder... would you like to come with me on a secret mission?"

That sounded exciting! "What kind of mission?"

He poked her ribs playfully. "A secret one, silly."

She giggled and poked him back. "Okay, what do I have to do?"

"You just have to meet me here at midnight in a couple of weeks, and then we'll have an adventure together!"

She paused. "That's very late. Mama won't let me."

His mouth twitched, and then he stroked his chin and tentacles, thinking.

"This mission is very important, I don't know if I can do it without you... How about I talk to your parents and get permission from them?"

"If they say yes, then that would be okay," she agreed. She was glad he'd offered to talk to them. He'd get them to say yes, she knew it. It sounded like she had an important job to do!

"But," he held up a finger, "it's very, very important that this stays a secret, otherwise I will get in a lot of trouble. So don't tell anybody, not even your parents, okay? I'll talk to them first when I see a good chance."

"I promise I won't tell anyone!"

She didn't want Almas to get in trouble. She didn't want him to cry again.

−−−

The night of the mission came at last! She had been good and kept her secret. Almas had let her know when he'd checked everything with her parents, and there were no problems there. She had agreed not to talk about it with them even after then though, in case spies were listening. When she pretended to go to bed that night, she winked at her mother who laughed and winked back. Everything was going well.

Later, she snuck out of the house quietly so as not to wake any spies, and hurried to Almas as quietly as she could.

He was pacing back and forth in the dark when she got to him, and when he saw her he gasped and ran over to her, crushing her into a hug.

"You're late!" he said in an unusually high voice.

"I'm sorry, I fell asleep for a bit but I didn't mean to."

He made a strangled noise and his legs seemed to quiver briefly, but then he let her go.

"We need to go. Now!"

He picked up a small pack, threw it onto his back, and took her hand, pulling her forwards. They walked through the city at a fairly slow pace, but Almas looked like he was straining to go faster.

"Do you want to run?" she asked.

His hand flew to her mouth, stopping itself just before it made contact. She flinched away from him.

"Sorry little one," he whispered, "but we have to be quiet for now. Maybe we can run when we're outside the city."

She was becoming frightened again, but she followed along in silence. A good adventurer had to be brave.

−−−

Her legs were starting to hurt by the time they'd finally left the last of Mac'Aree's houses behind them.

"Do you still think you can run?" Almas asked her.

She didn't want to run or even walk anymore, but she nodded anyway. As it turned out, she didn't have to run for long. Despite her best efforts her little legs just couldn't keep up, so Almas picked her up and ran for both of them. She hadn't meant to, but she soon began falling asleep again. She wasn't used to being up so late.


End file.
